Johnny Depp (l.) and Armie Hammer are coming out swinging at critics who they say damaged any chance 'The Lone Ranger' had at the box office. (Nick Stern./Nick Stern)

The Lone Ranger and Tonto might be able to dispatch most outlaws, but they were done in by the biggest mustache-twirling villains of all — critics — say actors Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer.

The stars and filmmakers of the "The Lone Ranger" — which left multiplexes in a cloud of dust with a disappointing $86.8 million box office haul — broke their silence about the most high-profile bust of the summer.

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"I think the reviews were written when they heard (director) Gore (Verbinski) and (produce) Jerry (Bruckheimer) and me were going to do 'The Lone Ranger,'" Depp told UK and Ireland's Yahoo! Movies. "(The critics) had expectations that it must be a blockbuster. I didn't have any expectations of that. I never do."

Armie Hammer, the man behind the Lone Ranger mask, was even more blunt.

"This is the deal with American critics," Hammer told the movie news site. "They've been gunning for our movie since it was shut down the first time. I think that's probably when the most of the critics wrote their reviews."

"To round it out as a big group, the American press, the journalists, or whatever, I think the reviews were written seven to eight months before we released the film,"" Depp told Yahoo!, echoing his co-star, adding that Verbinski made a "brave film."

Verbinski and Bruckheimer tried to paint the gargantuan western with a reported budget of $215 million as "counter programming" in a summer of sequels and super hero movies.

"Critics keep crying for original movies," said Bruckheimer. "You make one and they don't like it. What can I tell you?"

Defenders of the film point to a solid Cinemascore rating of B-plus — compared to the tepid 28% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which measures critics' reviews — showing that audiences liked the film better than the pros.

Despite the star power of Depp, the film has managed just $86.8 million at the box office. (Peter Mountain/Disney)

The critics really didn't like the film.

"This smart-looking but empty adventure — with a hero that looks more Tom Ford than John Ford — suffers from a shambling script, shifting tones and a surplus of villains," wrote the Daily News Joe Neumaier in his review. "Clunky and drawn out, 'Ranger' shoots blanks, even with the star power of Johnny Depp behind it."

In the end, though, the film had trouble ditching the image that it was a troubled production behind the scenes. At one point, Disney had shut the project down during pre-production over budget concerns. And when the cameras did start rolling, Verbinski opted to build real trains from scratch for the literal and figurative train wrecks and elaborate sets in the middle of the desert..

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"It was pretty massive," the director told the Daily News before the film's release. "We all know what trains look like and we all know what horses look like running next to trains. I'm not going to put a guy on a rubber horse and blue screen.